Cruisin' for a Bruisin'
by Kitsune Moonstar
Summary: A xover with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Noin and Buffy meet by chance on a cruise.


Author's note: I don't oen the Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Gundam Wing or any of their characters. Don't sue me; I'm applying for colleges.

* * *

Crusin' for a Bruisin'

Buffy sighed as she followed the steward to her cabin. She was not enjoying herself. The slayer had been sent on this cruise which she believed was intended to send her flying back into Riley's arms.

She'd made the decision to dump Riley earlier that week. That relationship just wouldn't work; Buffy was still in love with Angel, and until she stopped loving him, it wasn't fair to Riley for her to date him. But before she could do anything about that decisions, her mother had her on this cruise, so she could take a break from "the stress of slaying".

The steward left her at the door to her cabin. Buffy opened the door and stepped inside. There was a woman a few years older than Buffy inside. She was tall and athletic with short raven hair and bangs that fell into her beautiful violet eyes.

"Hi, you must be my roommate. I'm Buffy."

"I'm Noin." She considered Buffy for a moment, "You don't want to be here any more than I do, do you?"

"Not really," Buffy closed the door and sat down on one of the beds.

"I've been shipped away by a jealous fiancee who my best friend doesn't want to marry; not that he has a choice. How about you?"

"I've got a mom who doesn't want me to break up with my nice, normal boyfriend even though I'm in love with someone else."

Noin smiled and sat across from Buffy, "We're birds of a feather all right. Maybe we can figure something out. Um, I should warn you, my life is really strange."

Buffy grinned, "Try me."

"Well, I'm friends with a romance writer who's a witch and is in love with a French Catholic vampire who is on the side of the angels."

"We should do alright. I'm a vampire slayer who's in love with a souled vampire who will become evil if he experiences a moment of true happiness."

A bubbling laugh escaped Noin's lips, "We're quite a pair alright."

After putting away their stuff, they changed into swimsuits and head out on to the deck.

"So your best friend's fiancee sent you on a cruise?" Buffy asked as they sunbathed.

"Yeah. See, I've been best friends with Zechs since we were thirteen. We've gone through nearly everything together."

"Any you're in love with him."

"Yes. And he loves me. We work as partners in the Preventers. Unfortunately, he's from one of those old noble families in Europe though he was orphaned when he was ten. His parents arranged a marriage for him. It would have been void except the girl in question decided she wanted to marry Zechs. Both Zechs and his sister are against it, but the contract is legally binding. Autumn sees me as a threat. Zechs is too honorable to cheat on her, but she doesn't trust me. And somehow she pulled strings and got me sent here."

"Not fun."

"No. I think that Zechs is having some lawyers look over the marriage contract to try and find a loophole, but he's not very hopeful. What is your story."

"As I said earlier, I'm a vampire slayer, and I'm in love with a souled vampire who will become evil if he experiences a moment of true happiness. He loves me, and that's why he left me. My mother and many of my friends have been pressuring me to move on. This guy, Riley, was interested in me, and he was nice and normal, so we started dating. But..."

"Who wants nice when you've had amazing."

"Exactly. I care about Riley, but I don't love him like I love Angel. And it's not fair to Riley to keep dating him."

"You decided to dump him."

"Yeah. But I haven't had a chance yet. Somehow my mom sensed what I was planning and got me on this cruise. I think that she's trying to use it, so I'll give Riley another chance."

They sat in silence for awhile. While both of them were getting admiring looks from many of the guys, both women ignored the attention.

"So what's our first port of call?" Noin asked.

"Tokyo, I think."

"Good. I can get us back to the U.S. from there."

"You can?"

"Yes, I'm fluent in Japanese, and we should be able ti get a flight to L.A., Seattle, or San Francisco."

"Great. I think we arrive in Tokyo in two or three days."

"Well, let's enjoy them then since we won't be here for the rest of the cruise."

And they did enjoy themselves. While both women received many invitations to dinner and such, all were turned down. Neither was sad when the ship pulled into Tokyo Bay.

Neither of the women had much luggage to bring with them. They walked off the ship each carrying a suitcase and a carry on bag. Noin led them to a crowded train station where they boarded an express to Narita Airport.

"We're in luck, there were two seats on a flight to L.A. that leaves in four hours," Noin told Buffy.

"Great."

They found a restaurant and had lunch while they waited. Once on the plane, they both took naps. The plane ride seemed to take forever, but finally they were landing at the Los Angeles International Airport..

Their good mood faded when they arrived at the baggage claim and found that their luggage was missing.

Noin sighed, "At least we have our carry ons. I didn't put anything really important in my suitcase, did you?"

"No. I guess we need to go shopping."

They took a cab to one of L.A.'s malls. Both women had bought and changed into an outfit and were now working on finding some more clothes to tide them until they reached their respective homes.

"Buffy? Is that you?"

A pretty brunette Buffy's age approached them.

"Cordy, good to see you."

"I've been trying to get a hold of you ever since," she trailed off noticing Noin.

"Cordy, this is Noin. Noin, Cordy."

"Pleased to meet you."

"Don't worry, she knows about the slayer stuff."

"Where have you been? Your mom said you were out of town for a month."

"It's a long story."

"Why don't you two come back to the office with me? We can order a pizza and catch up on things."

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to intrude on..." Buffy started, but Cordy was already herding them to the door.

Twenty minutes later, they were seated in Angel Investigations chatting.

"So everything's been pretty quiet here. There was this one incident with a Wiccan romance writer, her husband who's a vampire, and their three year old daughter, but it worked out very well in the end. You see..." Cordelia was interrupted by the door opening and closing.

"Delia, I've got the pizza you ordered," a male voice called.

Buffy's eyes trained on the second man who entered the room; she was quite startled. From the looks of things, so was he.

"Angel?"

"Buffy, what are you..."

"Why aren't you dust?"

He smiled slightly, "I'm human or at least half human."

Buffy was out of her seat and in his arms in an instant.

"You mean there's no curse, you can walk in sunlight, grow old, and all that stuff."

He nodded.

"So we can have a relationship now? If you say no, I'm going to have to hurt you."

"Yes, but Buffy you have boyfriend."

"I was going to dump him before I found all this out."

Noin was smiling; she was glad that things were working out for Buffy. Angel noticed her presence.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Noin. Buffy and I were roommates on the cruise."

"Have we met before?"

"I don't think so."

"I know I've seen your face before."

"I think we have a picture of her in one of our case files," Cordy piped up.

"Why in the world would you be looking for me?" Noin asked.

"I'm not sure," Angel replied; Cordy started flipping through files.

Noin looked thoughtful, "Is there a bathroom I could use?"

Doyle pointed her in the right direction. While she was in the bathroom, Cordelia found the file, and Angel made a phone call. Buffy looked puzzled but said nothing.

Fifteen minutes later, the door opened and a tall man with platinum blond hair and sky blue eyes.

"Angel? You said there was something you I should take a look at."

Noin caught sight of him and opened her mouth, but no words came out. As if sensing something, he turned around to face Noin.

"Noin?"

She managed a weak smile, "Hi Zechs."

Buffy wasn't sure who moved first, but suddenly Zechs and Noin were locked in a hug. Zechs then proceeded to kiss Noin breathless. When they finally broke apart, Zechs asked, "Where have you been?"

This sent Buffy and Noin into a retelling of their cruise adventure.

"Why were you having Angel look for me?" Noin asked when they'd finished their story.

"Autumn had said you were working on something here in L.A. And since you'd just disappeared, I was trying to get a hold of you."

"Well since everyone's back together, let's celebrate," Cordy suggested.

The six of them headed out to a club. When the song I Knew I Loved You began, Zechs pulled Noin out onto the dance floor. They were soon joined by Angel and Buffy as well as Cordelia and Doyle. Cordy and Doyle left the dance floor when the song changed to Saints and Angels, but the other two couples remained.

As the song ended, they made no move to separate. Two new people entered the club. While the couples on the dance floor didn't notice them, Cordy and Doyle did, and they saw the look of fury that passed over both faces.

The man made the first move. He walked over to Buffy and Angel and yanked her out of Angel's arms. Or tried to anyway; Buffy was the slayer after all. Angel growled at her.

"Buffy, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be on a cruise."

"Hello to you too Riley."

"And who the hell is this?"

"Riley, this is Angel. Angel, this is Riley Finn. My ex-boyfriend."

"Ex? When did I become your ex?"

Buffy sighed, "Riley, this was not how I wanted this to happen. I was going to tell you it was over earlier, but Mom had me on that cruise before I could. I'm sorry Riley, but it's not fair for me to date you when I'm in love with someone else."

Riley was furious and speechless. Angel gently squeezed Buffy's hand. She smiled up at him leaning against his strength.

"I'm sorry," she repeated. "I just can't love you the way you want me to."

"But you can love some gut you just met?"

"I didn't "just" meet Angel; I met him when I first moved to Sunnydale."

"Oh? You never mentioned him before. Buffy, this is one of the lamest excuses for dumping a guy that I've ever heard."

Buffy sighed again, "I'm sorry you don't believe me, but it's the truth."

Riley glared at Angel and stalked off. Buffy watched him go sadly. Then she looked down at the claddagh ring she had returned to her finger; it's heart was pointing towards her. She did belong to someone, her own true love.

The woman's approach was slightly different. She waited until the four of them had returned to the table before approaching.

"Well Milliardo, so this is what you call "pressing business". And Miss Noin, I gave you an all expense paid vacation, and this is all the thanks I get?"

She was quite beautiful. Long auburn hair, steel blue eyes, she could compete with any supermodel.

Noin shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, but Zechs did not remove his arm from around her waist.

"Yes Autumn, this was pressing business. No one informed me that Noin was on a cruise; I've been worried about her."

"Why?"

The question was so full of disdain and disbelief that Buffy could not imagine how a relationship between Zechs and Autumn could survive.

"She's my best friend, and I love Noin with all my heart even if the circumstances make marrying her impossible," Zechs patiently explained.

This did not sit well with Autumn. She raised herself to her full height and glared at Zechs, "You listen to me, Milliardo Peacecraft. You are mine, and if you ever see this bitch again, I'll make your life living hell. You can't divorce me, remember?"

"Actually," came a voice from behind Autumn, "there's an interesting loophole in the fine print of the marriage contract. If the is a preexisting relationship that most likely will lead to marriage, then the contract is dissolved in favor of the prior romance."

Everyone turned to look at the young woman with sparkling blue-green eyes, "Which means you have no control over my brother, and I believe that Noin is going to be my sister, not you."

Autumn's mouth opened, but no sound came out. Finally she just turned on her heel and stomped off.

"Guys," Zechs' voice broke the silence, "this is my sister Relena."

Relena grinned, "I thought I drop by and give you the good news. Besides, the look on Autumn's face was priceless."

Zechs reached out and tousled her hair, "Thanks imp."

"I've got to go. Heero's taking me out to dinner since he won the pool on when we'd find the "escape clause" in the marriage contract."

She collected a hug from Noin, "Welcome to the family."

"Well, we really do have things to celebrate," Buffy said.

The six of them finally stumbled out of the club at one in the morning. Buffy and Noin exchanged hugs before going their separate ways.

"Send me an invitation to the wedding," Buffy said.

"As long as you send me one to yours," Noin replied.

"Of course."

They grinned at each other. Maybe they hadn't wanted to go on that cruise, but at least it had worked out for the best.

Owari (the end)


End file.
